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Gallery Wall Tutorial

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Thanks for the ideas on the box room...you've given me a lot to think about.

But in the meantime I figured I'd share the way I hung the frames. I've wanted a gallery wall for a while now but I been afraid to just go for it. I know it made me very nervous (I have a slight anxiety about putting holes in the plaster) so I thought I'd share how I did it. This is not an original idea - its been done a million times but hopefully the step by step will help someone who is about to take the leap.

Step 1I started by measuring the area on the wall I wanted to hang all the art within. Then I rolled out a large sheet of paper in that size on my bedroom floor. You could use brown postal or butcher paper - I used the backside of left over Christmas Wrapping paper taped together.Time spent: 4 minutes to find my measuring tape, 1 minute to measure, 5 minutes to find where I put the wrapping paper & tape, 5 minutes to cut and tape it to size.

Step 2Pull out all the artwork you want to use and arrange on the paper. I originally thought I was going to use one large frame a bunch of smaller ones..but it didn't look quite right. So I pulled the larger frame out and replaced with the ones you see here. There is no right or wrong here really - its just what looks right to you. If you can, take a digital photo of how you have arranged it.Time spent: 5 minutes to pull out all the frames in my closet, 40 minutes to get the arrangement I wanted.

Step 4Now comes the hard part. You have to figure out exactly where each nail should be so that the frame hangs exactly where you want it. So take each frame and measure from the top and sides of the frame to where the nail would go when its hung. Using that measurement, make a mark on your paper to note where the nail belongs. Be extra careful with your measurements.Time spent: 1 frustrating hour

Step 5Take your giant sheet of paper and affix it to the wall. Make sure its straight.Time spent: 5 minutes

Step 7Hang your art. If you are like me, you will need to consult the photo you took in step 2 because you have already completely forgotten where each piece went.Time spent: 10 minutes

Step 8Rip off the paper like unwrapping a giant gift.Time spent: 2 minute

Voila! You've done it! If you are like me you probably notice a problem or two - maybe you measured or put the nail in a few centimeters off. But who cares? The project is done and now you can have go have a cocktail!

This task felt very daunting to me before but now that I see it can be done fairly easily in less than 3 hours, I'm a convert. Obviously a larger wall would require more time but the same technique can be applied to just about any space. If you've been putting off your own gallery wall, I say go for it.

58 comments:

I love it! And, you are just adorable! We live in a small condo near Minneapolis and have spent enormous amounts of time arranging and decorating to make the best use of the small space. Last project I'm facing is what you've done here - I'll let you know how it turns out!

Love this! I've been dying to do a gallery wall above the sofa but have been too scared :)And I've been staring at that left over wrapping paper wondering what to do with it in a small nyc apartment-store vs. throw-now I know! Fabulous. Thanks!

Thank you - a million times over for this. Seriously! I have a huge box and many other loose frames filled with artwork that was painted by my mother (she passed away in 2008). I haven't yet had the heart/ability to hang them all up, it's still a bit too hard. But seeing this gives me a perfect plan of attack and the desire to get started so thank you! I can't wait to have her artwork all displayed in my "woman cave". Currently we have about 5 of her pieces throughout the house but this will give me the how to I need to hang the rest of her artwork.

Sweet! And thank you for being honest about the time and energy it took! I wing it when it comes to hanging objet d'art, but that's probably because we haven't dealt with our row house walls yet! I bet I'll feel VERY differently when all things vertical are skimcoated!

Thanks so much for the tip! I've been following your blog for a while and love your honesty and great ideas! We hung 4 framed objects in my daughter's room and I had to call in my dad (who's an architect and great with measurements) to do the job right. Now I have a better plan for next time!

I love framed galleries. :) I did one of my Europe pictures in a similar method...at least to figure out the grouping. Using paper to guide the holes would have been fantastic. Will note for future "family wall" gallery. Great tip! (And I love the artwork you've chosen.)

Great tutorial. I love the combination of sizes and shapes. I am contemplating doing a gallery wall around my flat screen televsion. But I'm afraid it may be like your large piece of art and just not fit in. Plus the fact that its a TV makes it less pretty than your frames!

I love this! I just found it through your posts of the year post :) About that frustrating hour of figuring out where the nail holes go... my hubby got this http://www.amazon.com/Under-Roof-Decorating-6-100101-Picture/dp/B001IULRHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293815882&sr=8-1 for Christmas this year - seems like it might make that frustrating hour only an easy few minutes!!! Wahoo!

I've always cut out an individual piece of paper for each frame, but arranging them all on one giant piece of paper is genius! Finally going to tackle the gallery wall project I've been putting off for months.

And a tip for nail placement: Drive a screw or nail through one end of a paint stirrer. Hang the picture on the paint stirrer-screw with the pointy end towards the wall. When you have the picture placed just so, press the paint stirrer-screw into the wall so it makes a divet. Now you know exactly where to hammer in the nail.

I sprayed all my frames black at least 9 months ago, printed out all my fav photos in black and white at least 2 months ago. But said frames and photos are still tacked and ready to be hung on the wall. After the hours it took to prep and paint those walls to perfection I just cant bring myself to hammer in a dozen nails! Your idea with the paper is great I will certainly be using that. Now just to work up the courage to do it ....!

Just what I needed! Thanks ;) I have been dithering about taking the hammer and hook to the 101 year old lathe and plaster walls in our house so I have only hung on, or very near, previous holes ... so you have done me a great service - my collections will soon be curated and on view!

I just found your blog 3 days ago, and since I was so inspired, I completed a gallery wall tonight using your suggestions. Your blog is either one of my best, or most dangerous recent internet finds! I love your diy projects, pics, and especially Halloween ideas. Thank you!